The project will explore the use of a new generation of ‘optogenetic’ devices small enough to be implanted in the brain, where they would simulate the function of damaged tissue.

The Reorganization and Plasticity to Accelerate Injury Recovery (REPAIR) project, funded by the US government, involves researchers from UCL, Stanford, Brown, and the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF).

Professor Alan Thompson, Director of the Institute of Neurology said: "This is an exciting and highly innovative approach to addressing a fundamentally important issue - repairing damage to the central nervous system. If successful it could have major implications for improving recovery and reversing impairment in a wide range of neurological disorders both traumatic and acquired and would be a major boost to our efforts in rehabilitation"